In This Broken World
by Cybran
Summary: A virus sweeps through the planet, killing people and turning them into slaves of their virus-infected minds. Governments have collapsed or fled, countries are in anarchy, and the remaining portion of humanity struggle to survive in the aftermath. Percy is like every other, and the struggle has just begun.


_New York_

He hadn't gone outside for three days.

Blame the gangs rolling around his hiding spot and his food source - his mom's former working place.

What little bottled water they had and a few microwave meals weren't the most nutritious, but _hey, 95% _of the world is dead. The storage unit was in the basement, the door hidden in a corner, and so far none of the gangs patrolling the place had discovered it yet, but Percy didn't really have a plan after his stores run out.

Best not to think about it.

The upstairs section had long been looted bare, so there wasn't any reason to come down either.

Except the undiscovered 'food', and the bottles of water that Percy drank out of.

_This sucks._ He leaned against the wall, bottle of water in hand. _I wonder how any of my old classmates are doing. Or are they dead? Just like basically everyone else I know? Like my parents? My neighbours? My friends? _He didn't notice the tears running down his cheeks. _Why does life have to be this unfair? _Slowly, he curled up into a ball, and cried himself to sleep.

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Percy woke up a few hours later. He didn't exactly know what time it was, cause he had no wall clock, no wrist watch, and his phone was dead. However, a quick peek through the slits in the door showed total darkness. Sighing while he moved to a sitting position, he thought _eh, what the hell. Might as well go scavenge. _

Grabbing a flashlight, a small pouch and his gut knife — he managed to swipe this from one of the thugs — Percy took a swig of water before he steeled his nerves and pushed the door open.

Closing the door behind him and creeping up the stairs, Percy was relieved to see the coast was clear. Perhaps the gangs found nothing and moved on.

_Yeah, think like that, Percy. _He took a deep breath before he ventured out into the night.

It was the start of summer, so the air was still slightly chilly, but nothing a sweater couldn't handle. Percy crept out of the building and winced. The once vibrant pink walls were very faded and there were bullet holes in some of the walls, not to mention the glass panes were completely broken and the neon sign was missing. _Seriously? Who steals a sign? What purpose does it serve? _Percy shook his head and continued down the street, the abandoned cars and broken bikes illuminated by moonlight.

A broken down police cruiser caught his attention. _Maybe there's something good in there. _Percy crept forwards and opened the driver's side door. A decomposing body flopped out of the car, causing Percy to flinch before the smell hit him. Percy covered his mouth with his hand, eyes stinging as he slowly nudged the body away with his foot.

A flash of metal on the body caught his attention. Flipping the body over with his foot, Percy found the policeman's pistol still in its holster and a couple clips of ammo next to it. He crouched down and struggled with getting the gun out of his holster one-handed before he grimaced. _I'm going to have to cut it out. Fuck._

Taking a deep breath, Percy removed his hand from his mouth and gripping his knife, sawed through the strap holding the gun in place and pulled it free. He slid the gun into his jean pocket before removing the ammo from the dead policeman and placed both clips in his sweater pockets.

Standing up straight, Percy surveyed the area. Spotting no one, he got ready to move on.

A soft rustling in a nearby alley caught his attention. Percy was about to dismiss it as an animal when he heard a soft "oof". Drawing his gun and gripping his gut knife, Percy made his way towards the alley.

Creeping in, Percy shined his flashlight around. Suddenly, two hands wrapped around his neck. Acting on reflex, Percy swung around and ducked, his fist connecting to his assailant's stomach, causing the assailant to stumble back.

Percy aimed his pistol and flashlight at his would-be murderer and was surprised to see a girl with dirty blond hair before she charged him again, more out of sheer desperation than anything.

Percy cleanly sidestepped and grabbed her, twirling them both around with his knife at her throat. She kicked a leg out underneath him, causing him to stumble and lose his grip before she backed away.

Percy raised his hands in the "I surrender" gesture, panting. "Calm down there. I'm not here to hurt you." She replied, "Why should I trust you?" Percy frowned. _She has a point._ "At least we don't try to kill each other. Deal?"

She nodded her head, grey eyes still full of apprehension. Percy sighed and motioned towards her. "What's your name?" After a brief hesitation, she mumbled out, "Annabeth." Percy somehow knew she wasn't lying about that, at least. "Perseus." Annabeth looked up at him. "As in the Greek hero?" Percy nodded. "My...my mom was into Greek mythology, and my dad was Greek, so..." Percy shrugged. "Just call me Percy."

"Okay." Annabeth and Percy settled into an awkward silence, each still not fully trusting each other. "How old are you?" Percy asked, leaning against the wall. "I'm 17. You?" "Same." Percy then gave her a once-over and grimaced. Her shirt was torn slightly, and her jeans didn't look much better. Even the backpack on her back looked ragged. Annabeth noticed Percy's eyes rake over her and rolled her eyes. "Quit checking me out." Percy quickly shook his head and said, "No, you just look like you went through hell. How have you held up?" Annabeth hesitated again. "I prepared. I saw the signs, so I stocked up a bit. Still, it's been a couple of weeks since I've found food, and while I still have a bit I have to prepare. Besides, it's not like you don't look like you've gone through hell yourself." She shrugged. "Let's get out before a gang notices us." She shuddered, "I've heard them say in very specific terms what they want to do to people of my gender." Percy winced and nodded. "My place?" Annabeth looked at him in surprise. "Don't be so trusting, Percy. I could kill you in your sleep, you know?" Percy nodded, but said, "I just, dunno, trust you. You don't seem like the type to want to kill people to survive, or run around losing all her morals for fun." Percy motioned to her. "Come, I'll show you the way."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. We've only just met, and I have my place. You could kill me in _my _sleep, for all I know."

Percy sighed and made a gesture of acceptance. Just as Annabeth turned to leave, Percy called out. "Annabeth. See you around?" Annabeth turned and raised an eyebrow. "You too. Stay safe." With that, she trudged into the darkness, but Percy had a feeling this wasn't the last time he would be seeing her.

_Damn. _He had just saw a real, talking, breathing human being. _Maybe there is hope. _Looking up at the sky, Percy figured he should return to his hideout before dawn broke.

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**This is the worst time possible to start a fic. **

**I'm in the middle of my finals but c'mon, I need breaks. I managed to pull this out of my ass in about 2 weeks, from an old draft I never really finished. **

**Updates will be infrequent, sparodic, with no pattern whatsoever. However, I am able to write more after my finals are over, but I'm juggling another fic. Neither will have priority, and if you want to check it out it's on my profile.**

**Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll enjoy this fic. :)**

**_This is a short prologue, and I hope to make future chapters longer. _**

**-Cy**

**Posted on 7/10/19**


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